An attack ad will generally unfairly criticize an opponent's political platform, usually by pointing out its faults. Often the ad will simply make use of innuendo, based on opposition research.

Televised attack ads rose to prominence in the United States in the 1960s, especially since Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations require over-the-air commercial TV stations with licenses issued by the FCC—effectively all regulated TV stations, since others would either be public television or be pirated—to air political ads by both parties, whether it be attack ads or more traditional political ads. Although cable television and the Internet are not required to air such ads, attack ads have become commonplace on both mediums as well.

One of the earliest and most famous television attack ads, known as "Daisy", was used by Lyndon Johnson against Barry Goldwater in the 1964 presidential election. The ad opened with a young girl innocently picking petals from a daisy, while a man's voice performed a countdown to zero. It then zoomed in to an extreme close-up to her eye, and cut to an image of a nuclear explosion. The ad was shocking and disturbing, but also very effective. It convinced many that Goldwater's more aggressive approach to fighting the Cold War could result in a nuclear conflict.[1]

Attack ads were used again by the campaign of George H.W. Bush against Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis in the 1988 presidential election. The two most famous were the "Willie Horton" and "Tank Ride" ads. The "Willie Horton" ad began with a statement of Vice President Bush's support of the death penalty. Then it described the case of Willie Horton, who was convicted of murder. The ad state that Governor Dukakis's prison furlough program (unsupervised weekend passes from Massachusetts prison) released Horton ten times; in one of those furloughs, he kidnapped a young couple, stabbed the boy and repeatedly raped the girl. The ad ended with, "Weekend prison passes. Dukakis on crime."[2]

The "Tank Ride" ad[3] from 1988 was an attack on Dukakis by the GOP.[4] Though the ad was inaccurate, it created a lasting negative impression and helped guarantee Dukakis' defeat. The ad suggested that Bush was more supportive of military spending and weapons programs than Dukakis. The footage, pulled from the news media, showed Dukakis riding a tank in his attempt to counter the claim that he was weak on defense. He wore a large, oversized helmet and a wide smile, which was used by the GOP to insinuate that he was a fool. The GOP also added gear sounds from an 18-wheeler truck to imply that Dukakis could not run the tank smoothly – although tanks do not have gears that grind.[5]

The 2008 Democratic presidential primaries featured an ad by Hillary Clinton directed at her main rival at the time, Barack Obama, which aired days before the Texas primary. The ad began by showing children asleep in bed while phone rang in the background. A voice-over stated that it was 3 a.m., the phone was ringing in the White House, and that "something’s happening in the world". The voice-over then asked voters if they wanted someone who "already knows the world’s leaders, knows the military" and is "tested and ready to lead in a dangerous world" to pick up the phone.[6] While Obama was never mentioned by name, the implication was clear and the ad set off a firestorm of discussion and controversy, causing even Obama himself to respond and describe it as an ad that "play[ed] on people’s fears", predicting it would not work.[7] Later in the campaign, after Obama had become the Democratic nominee, Republican nominee John McCain echoed a similar sentiment. In a controversial ad called "Celebrity", McCain's campaign asked, "[Barack Obama] is the biggest celebrity in the world. But, is he ready to lead?" The ad juxtaposed Obama supporters with photos of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.[8]

Although it has been found that Canadian elections are less likely to use attack ads than US elections, there is still remains a strong presence of negative ads in Canadian campaigns. Comparatively, Canadians were more likely to use acclaim ads- or ads that praise another individual- than Americans, as American campaigns are much more likely to use attack ads than Canadian campaigns. Overall, however, Canadian campaigns are more likely to use attack ads than acclaim ads, similarly to the US.[10]

Political attack ads across all types of media can have different strategic aims. Some are character attacks, trying to persuade the viewer to think differently about a candidates character in hopes that they will reconsider their perception of the candidate and who they are as a person. Another strategy is an attack on the candidates' policy or political ideas. This attempts to derail one's support for a candidate by persuading them that the candidate-under-attack's political ideas are illogical or will be ineffective.[11]

While attack ads have primarily been relegated for political usage, there have been some instances of private businesses running them. In 2013, Highmark, a healthcare company associated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) were unable to reach an agreement on whether Highmark's insurance would be accepted at UPMC. Highmark also entered into negotiations to acquire the struggling West Penn Allegheny Health System; Highmark and UPMC then started airing attack ads at each other. Both parties' ads accused the other of pushing patients with their respective health insurance plans to hospitals operated by their respective health insurance provider, as well as attacking each other's nonprofit status.[12][13][14]

Studies suggest that attack ads have no effect on Voter turnout in the United States. There is, in fact, a noted negative impact on voter turnout by some researches, but it has no bearing on the evidence as it is statistically insignificant. The only case in which evidence reveals a correlation between negative advertising and voter turnout is for "late" negativity. This is when two conditions exist for the voter: they have already selected their preferred candidate and the attack and the negativity is about their selected candidate. If these two conditions exist, there is a negative effect on voter turnout. In this case, a forty percent increase in "late" negative ads will decrease the likelihood of turnout by 0.087, and a sixty percent increase in late ads merits a 0.145 decrease in turnout. Thus, the only case in which attack ads have been found to effect on voter turn out is when the voter has already selected their candidate, as they realize that their candidate is potentially no better than the alternative options.[15]

Studies claim that 82% of Americans dislike attack ads, and 53% believe that the "ethics and values" of election campaigns have worsened since 1985.[16] The voting public see attack ads as an element of smear campaigning.[17] Other research indicates that voters are open to candidates attacking each other if the issues in question are "appropriate". In a 1999 survey of Virginia voters, 80.7% felt it is fair for a candidate to criticize an opponent for "talking one way and voting another", though but only 7.7% feel it is fair for a candidate to attack an opponent for the "behavior of his/her family members".[18]

Political operatives, however, have found attack ads to be useful, and social psychologists claim that negative information has a tendency "to be more influential than equally extreme or equally likely positive information."[19]University of Toronto professor Scott Hawkins "suggests that even a mention in the media that a candidate or party is planning to run negative advertisements can be beneficial, since it plants seeds of doubt in the voter's mind, especially early in the campaign when voters tend to be less involved. If the reported claims turn up in advertisements later in the campaign, they already seem familiar to the voter."[20]

In the United States, researchers have consistently found that negative advertising has positive effects. Negative advertising "is likely to stimulate voters by increasing the degree to which they care about the election's outcome or by increasing ties to their party’s nominee;"[21] it makes the election seem more important, and thus increases voter turnout.[22] Other research has found that negative advertisements only appeal to partisan voters, and that it alienates independents, causing elections to be fought among partisan extremes.[23]

In the run up to and the 2015 Canadian federal election itself, Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the son of Canadian Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, was subjected to a sustained negative ad campaign by the Conservative Party of Canada. However, the "Just Not Ready" campaign was judged by the public as unfair and mocking of the Liberal leader.[26] More importantly, the advertising campaign lowered public expectations of Trudeau's performance that even Conservative personnel noted that he would impress people if he showed any display of competence in public events such as the televised debates.[27] That proved to be the case, and Trudeau took advantage of the public's low expectations to impress the public with his articulate and passionate manner to garner support throughout the campaign until his party won a majority government.[28]

In 2006 Republican challenger Paul R. Nelson campaigned against Democrat Ron Kind for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Nelson's ad stated, "Ron Kind has no trouble spending your money, he’d just rather spend it on sex," and, "Instead of spending money on cancer research, Ron Kind voted to spend your money to study the sex lives of Vietnamese prostitutes."[29] Nelson’s challenge fell short, as Ron Kind was reelected, while the attack's outrageous presentation provoked an uproar from Republicans and Democrats alike.[citation needed] A 1999 survey showed that challengers lose almost 3 points on the feeling thermometer (a 100-point scale used to assess survey-takers feelings on certain issues)[30] when a candidate engages in mudslinging. The study also shows that the influence of negativity is less powerful for challengers than for incumbents.[clarification needed][31]

^Mayer, Robert N. (February 23, 2007). "Winning the War of Words: The "Front Group" Label in Contemporary Consumer Politics". The Journal of American Culture. 30 (1): 96–109. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734X.2007.00467.x.

1.
Political campaign
–
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referendums are decided. In modern politics, the most high-profile political campaigns are focused on elections and candidates for head of state or head of government. The message of the campaign contains the ideas that the wants to share with the voters. It is to get those who agree with their ideas to them when running for a political position. The message often consists of talking points about policy issues. The points summarize the ideas of the campaign and are repeated frequently in order to create a lasting impression with the voters. In many elections, the party will try to get the candidate off message by bringing up policy or personal questions that are not related to the talking points. Most campaigns prefer to keep the message broad in order to attract the most potential voters, a message that is too narrow can alienate voters or slow the candidate down with explaining details. Barack Obama ran on a consistent, simple message of change throughout his campaign, however, even if the message is crafted carefully, it does not assure the candidate a victory at the polls. For a winning candidate, the message is refined and then becomes his or her in office, in a modern political campaign, the campaign organization will have a coherent structure of personnel in the same manner as any business of similar size. Successful campaigns usually require a campaign manager to coordinate the campaigns operations, apart from a candidate, they are often a campaigns most visible leader. Political consultants advise campaigns on all of their activities, from research to field strategy. Consultants conduct candidate research, voter research, and opposition research for their clients, activists are the foot soldiers loyal to the cause, the true believers who will carry the run by volunteer activists. Such volunteers and interns may take part in such as canvassing door-to-door. Modern political campaigns have set new standards for how successful campaigns are conducted day-to-day. The daily schedule of a campaign is hyperextended, and often has no definite beginning or end, only a series of tasks to be completed by certain benchmark times, or, most often. COB for political campaigns is generally defined as the time at night at which your supervisor is required to report his/her numbers, only a very small fraction of campaign workers do the bulk of their work during traditional business hours

2.
Campaign advertising
–
In politics, campaign advertising is the use of an advertising campaign through the media to influence political debate, and ultimately, voters. These ads are designed by consultants and political campaign staff. Many countries restrict the use of broadcast media to broadcast political messaging, in both the United Kingdom and Ireland, paid advertisements are forbidden, though political parties are allowed a small number of party political broadcasts in the run up to election time. The United States has a free market for broadcast political messaging. Canada allows paid-for political broadcasts but requires equitable access to the airwaves, campaigns can include several different media. Political advertising has changed drastically over the last several decades, but that accomplishment was soon to pale in comparison when in 1952, the United States presidential election,1952 saw a major change in how candidates reached their potential audiences. With the advent of television, war hero and presidential candidate Dwight D and he did not have to shake a half a million hands or travel the country extensively. He won the trust of the American people with his direct approach and his vice president was Richard M. Nixon. On the other side of the fence, Catholic born John F. Kennedy created approximately 200 commercials during his campaign, the second and more memorable was the first Kennedy-Nixon debate. In the first of four televised debates, Kennedy appeared tanned and confident in opposition to Nixon, in the United States presidential election,1964, aggressive advertising paved the way for a landslide victory for Lyndon B. Johnson. One of the first negative and maybe the most controversial commercial, the commercial showed a young girl picking the petals off a daisy. After she finishes counting, a voice off camera begins a countdown to a nuclear explosion, the ad ends with an appeal to vote Johnson, because the stakes are too high for you to stay home. The commercial used fear and guilt, an effective advertising principle, to make people take action to protect the next generation. The ad ran for under a minute and only aired once, but due to the wing, pro-war views of Barry Goldwater. Over the next decade, the United States saw the rise of the televised political attack ad. Richard M. George McGovern ran a free of political attack ads until the very end of his campaign. Attack ads continued to become the norm in political advertising, Ronald Reagan used them against Jimmy Carter during the United States presidential election,1980. It was also the first time that a member was also used to attack the opposing candidate

3.
Canvassing
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Canvassing is the systematic initiation of direct contact with individuals, commonly used during political campaigns. Campaigners will knock on doors or make calls to engage in personalized contact with an individual. It is the element of what political campaigns call the ground game or field. It is less common in campaigns of Continental Europe and East Asian democracies, canvassing can also refer to a neighborhood canvass performed by law enforcement in the course of an investigation. A neighborhood canvas is an approach to interviewing residents, merchants. A modern election canvass is conducted either by a candidate, volunteers, the canvassers are given lists known as canvass sheets or in the UK as reading pads. These are a list of households to be contacted, generated from a voter database, some campaigns today have replaced paper sheets with tablet or smartphone apps. The canvasser will attempt to reach each of the households on their list, almost all election canvassing includes asking how a person plans to vote. Supporters will then be asked themselves to volunteer, or to take a lawn sign and those who are wavering or undecided may be given a message of persuasion. If foot canvassing, the canvasser will also distribute flyers, upon completing the canvass, the results will be entered into the voter database. This will update the campaigns list of voters, removing those who have moved or are deceased and adding new residents who may have been found. The data on the questions will be used for further contact, the origin of the term is an older spelling of “canvas”, to sift by shaking in a sheet of canvas, hence to discuss thoroughly. An organized canvass can be seen as early as the elections of the Roman Republic, in those campaigns candidates would shake the hands of all eligible voters in the Forum. Whispering into the ear of some candidates would be a nomenclator, modern canvassing traces back to the rise of contested elections in England. For the first centuries of the English Parliament elections were rarely contested, losing an election was considered a dishonor to oneself, and to friends and family. Campaigning thus involved quiet sounding out of the pool of voters. Only once this process had convinced a candidate that he had enough votes to win would he declare his interest in the seat, beginning in the Elizabethan Era, and expanding during the conflicts under the Stuarts, elections began to be openly contested. In both 1604 and 1626 canvassing for votes was banned and it was seen as a violation to free elections, as votes would be won by persuasion rather than a voter making up his own mind

4.
Advertising
–
Advertising is an audio or visual form of marketing communication that employs an openly sponsored, nonpersonal message to promote or sell a product, service or idea. Sponsors of advertising are often businesses who wish to promote their products or services, Advertising is differentiated from public relations in that an advertiser usually pays for and has control over the message. It is differentiated from personal selling in that the message is nonpersonal, the actual presentation of the message in a medium is referred to as an advertisement or ad. Commercial ads often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through branding, on the other hand, ads that intend to elicit an immediate sale are known as direct response advertising. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations. Non-profit organizations may use free modes of persuasion, such as a service announcement. Advertising may also be used to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful, in 2015, the world spent an estimate of US$592.43 billion on advertising. Its projected distribution for 2017 is 40. 4% on TV,33. 3% on digital, internationally, the largest advertising conglomerates are Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis, and WPP. In Latin, ad vertere means to turn toward, egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages and wall posters. Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in the ruins of Pompeii, lost and found advertising on papyrus was common in ancient Greece and ancient Rome. Wall or rock painting for commercial advertising is another manifestation of an ancient advertising form, which is present to this day in many parts of Asia, Africa, the tradition of wall painting can be traced back to Indian rock art paintings that date back to 4000 BC. In ancient China, the earliest advertising known was oral, as recorded in the Classic of Poetry of bamboo flutes played to sell candy, advertisement usually takes in the form of calligraphic signboards and inked papers. Fruits and vegetables were sold in the city square from the backs of carts and wagons, the first compilation of such advertisements was gathered in Les Crieries de Paris, a thirteenth-century poem by Guillaume de la Villeneuve. In the 18th century advertisements started to appear in newspapers in England. However, false advertising and so-called quack advertisements became a problem, thomas J. Barratt from London has been called the father of modern advertising. Working for the Pears Soap company, Barratt created an advertising campaign for the company products. One of his slogans, Good morning, have you used Pears soap. was famous in its day and into the 20th century. Barratt introduced many of the ideas that lie behind successful advertising

5.
Public broadcasting
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Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. In much of the world, funding comes from the government, the great majority are operated as private not-for-profit corporations. Public broadcasting may be nationally or locally operated, depending on the country, in some countries, public broadcasting is run by a single organization. Other countries have multiple public broadcasting organizations operating regionally or in different languages, historically, public broadcasting was once the dominant or only form of broadcasting in many countries. Commercial broadcasting now also exists in most of countries, the number of countries with only public broadcasting declined substantially during the latter part of the 20th century. The primary mission of public broadcasting that of service, speaking to. The British model has been accepted as a universal definition. In the context of a national identity, the role of public broadcasting may be unclear. Likewise, the nature of good programming may raise the question of individual or public taste. Within public broadcasting there are two different views regarding commercial activity, one is that public broadcasting is incompatible with commercial objectives. The other is that public broadcasting can and should compete in the marketplace with commercial broadcasters and this dichotomy is highlighted by the public service aspects of traditional commercial broadcasters. Public broadcasters in each jurisdiction may or may not be synonymous with government controlled broadcasters, in some countries like the UK public broadcasters are not sanctioned by government departments and have independent means of funding, and thus enjoy editorial independence. Public broadcasters may receive their funding from a television licence fee, individual contributions. One of the principles of broadcasting is to provide coverage of interests for which there are missing or small markets. Public broadcasting attempts to supply topics of social benefit that are not provided by commercial broadcasters. Typically, such underprovision is argued to exist when the benefits to viewers are relatively high in comparison to the benefits to advertisers from contacting viewers and this frequently is the case in undeveloped countries that normally have low benefits to advertising. Additionally, public broadcasting may facilitate the implementation of a cultural policy, examples include, The Canadian government is committed to official bilingualism. As a result, the broadcaster, the CBC employs translators

6.
Lyndon B. Johnson
–
A Democrat from Texas, he previously served as a United States Representative from 1937 to 1949 and then as a United States Senator from 1949 to 1961. He spent six years as Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader, and two more as Senate Majority Whip, Johnson ran for the Democratic nomination in the 1960 presidential election. Although unsuccessful, he was chosen by then-Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts to be his running mate and they went on to win a close election over Richard Nixon and Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. Johnson was sworn in as Vice President on January 20,1961. Two years and ten months later, on November 22,1963 and he successfully ran for a full term in the 1964 election, winning by a landslide over Republican opponent Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. He is one of four people who have served as President, Vice President, Senator. Johnson was renowned for his personality and the Johnson treatment. Assisted in part by an economy, the War on Poverty helped millions of Americans rise above the poverty line during his administration. With the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Johnson escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which granted Johnson the power to use force in Southeast Asia without having to ask for an official declaration of war. The number of American military personnel in Vietnam increased dramatically, from 16,000 advisors in non-combat roles in 1963 to 550,000 in early 1968, American casualties soared and the peace process bogged down. Growing unease with the war stimulated a large, angry antiwar movement based especially on university campuses in the U. S. and abroad. Johnson faced further troubles when summer riots broke out in most major cities after 1965, while he began his presidency with widespread approval, support for Johnson declined as the public became upset with both the war and the growing violence at home. In 1968, the Democratic Party factionalized as antiwar elements denounced Johnson, Republican Richard Nixon was elected to succeed him, as the New Deal coalition that had dominated presidential politics for 36 years collapsed. After he left office in January 1969, Johnson returned to his Texas ranch, historians argue that Johnsons presidency marked the peak of modern liberalism in the United States after the New Deal era. Johnson is ranked favorably by some historians because of his policies and the passage of many major laws, affecting civil rights, gun control, wilderness preservation. Lyndon Baines Johnson was born on August 27,1908, near Stonewall, Texas, in a farmhouse on the Pedernales River. Johnson had one brother, Sam Houston Johnson, and three sisters, Rebekah, Josefa, and Lucia, the nearby small town of Johnson City, Texas, was named after LBJs cousin, James Polk Johnson, whose forebears had moved west from Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Johnson had English, German, and Ulster Scots ancestry and he was maternally descended from pioneer Baptist clergyman George Washington Baines, who pastored eight churches in Texas, as well as others in Arkansas and Louisiana

7.
Barry Goldwater
–
Despite losing the election by a landslide, Goldwater is the politician most often credited for sparking the resurgence of the American conservative political movement in the 1960s. He also had a impact on the libertarian movement. Goldwater rejected the legacy of the New Deal and fought through the coalition against the New Deal coalition. He mobilized a large conservative constituency to win the hard-fought Republican primaries, though raised an Episcopalian, he was the first candidate with ethnically Jewish heritage to be nominated for President by a major American party. Goldwaters conservative campaign platform ultimately failed to gain the support of the electorate, Johnson, bringing down many conservative Republican office-holders as well. Jeff Fishel says, The conservative faction of the party was on the defensive as a result of the magnitude of the election losses. Goldwater returned to the Senate in 1969, and specialized in defense policy, after narrowly winning re-election to the Senate in 1980, he chose not to run for a sixth term in 1986, and was succeeded by fellow Republican John McCain. Goldwater was born in Phoenix, in what was then the Arizona Territory and his fathers family had founded Goldwaters, a leading upscale department store in Phoenix. Goldwaters paternal grandfather, Michel Goldwasser, a Polish Jew, was born in 1821 in Poland, soon after arriving in London, he anglicized his name from Goldwasser to Goldwater. Michel married Sarah Nathan, a member of a Jewish English family and his father was Jewish and his mother, who was Episcopalian, came from a New England family that included the theologian, Roger Williams of Rhode Island. Goldwaters parents were married in an Episcopal church in Phoenix, for his life, Goldwater was an Episcopalian. The family department store made the Goldwaters comfortably wealthy, Goldwater graduated from Staunton Military Academy, an elite private school in Virginia, and attended the University of Arizona for one year, where he joined the Sigma Chi fraternity. Barry had never been close to his father, but he took over the business after Barons death in 1930. He became a Republican, promoted innovative business practices, and opposed the New Deal, Goldwater came to know former President Herbert Hoover, whose conservative politics he admired greatly. In 1934, he married Margaret Peggy Johnson, wealthy daughter of a prominent industrialist from Muncie and they had four children, Joanne, Barry, Michael, and Peggy. Goldwater became a widower in 1985, and in 1992 he married Susan Wechsler, Goldwaters son Barry Goldwater Jr. served as a United States House of Representatives member from California from 1969 to 1983. Goldwaters grandson, Ty Ross, a former Zoli model, is gay and HIV positive. With the American entry into World War II, Goldwater received a commission in the United States Army Air Forces

8.
Cold War
–
The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare

9.
Nuclear warfare
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Nuclear warfare is a military conflict or political strategy in which nuclear weaponry is used to inflict damage on the enemy. In contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear warfare can produce destruction in a much shorter time-frame, some activists had claimed in the 1980s that with this potential nuclear winter side-effect of a nuclear war, almost every human on Earth could starve to death. So far, two nuclear weapons have been used in the course of warfare, both by the United States near the end of World War II, on August 6,1945, a uranium gun-type device was detonated over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, a plutonium device was detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki. These two bombings resulted in the deaths of approximately 120,000 people, in 1974, India, and in 1998, Pakistan, two countries that were openly hostile toward each other, developed nuclear weapons. Israel and North Korea are also thought to have developed stocks of nuclear weapons, the Israeli government has never admitted to having nuclear weapons, although it is known to have constructed the reactor and reprocessing plant necessary for building nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons have been detonated on over 2,000 occasions for testing purposes, after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the resultant end of the Cold War, the threat of a major nuclear war between the two nuclear superpowers was generally thought to have declined. Since then, concern over nuclear weapons has shifted to the prevention of localized nuclear conflicts resulting from nuclear proliferation, the possibility of using nuclear weapons in war is usually divided into two subgroups, each with different effects and potentially fought with different types of nuclear armaments. The first, a nuclear war, refers to a small-scale use of nuclear weapons by two belligerents. This term could apply to any use of nuclear weapons that may involve military or civilian targets. The second, a nuclear war, could consist of large numbers of nuclear weapons used in an attack aimed at an entire country, including military, economic. Such an attack would almost certainly destroy the economic, social, and military infrastructure of the target nation. Some Cold War strategists such as Henry Kissinger argued that a nuclear war could be possible between two heavily armed superpowers. Some predict, however, that a war could potentially escalate into a full-scale nuclear war. Even the most optimistic predictions of the effects of a nuclear exchange foresee the death of many millions of victims within a very short period of time. However, such predictions, assuming total war with nuclear arsenals at Cold War highs, have not been without criticism. The authors of the study estimated that as much as five tons of soot could be released, producing a cooling of several degrees over large areas of North America. The cooling would last for years and could be catastrophic, according to the researchers, either a limited or full-scale nuclear exchange could occur during an accidental nuclear war, in which the use of nuclear weapons is triggered unintentionally

10.
George H. W. Bush
–
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who was the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993 and the 43rd Vice President of the United States from 1981 to 1989. Republican Party, he was previously a congressman, ambassador, and he is the oldest living former President and Vice President. Prior to his sons presidency, he was referred to as George Bush or President Bush. Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to Prescott Bush and Dorothy Walker Bush. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Bush postponed his university studies, enlisted in the U. S. Navy on his 18th birthday and he served until the end of the war, then attended Yale University. Graduating in 1948, he moved his family to West Texas and entered the oil business, Bush became involved in politics soon after founding his own oil company, serving as a member of the House of Representatives and Director of Central Intelligence, among other positions. He failed to win the Republican nomination for President in 1980, but was chosen as a mate by party nominee Ronald Reagan. During his tenure, Bush headed administration task forces on deregulation, in 1988, Bush ran a successful campaign to succeed Reagan as President, defeating Democratic opponent Michael Dukakis. Foreign policy drove the Bush presidency, military operations were conducted in Panama and the Persian Gulf, the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, and the Soviet Union dissolved two years later. Domestically, Bush reneged on a 1988 campaign promise and, after a struggle with Congress and his presidential library was dedicated in 1997, and he has been active—often alongside Bill Clinton—in various humanitarian activities. Besides being the 43rd president, his son George also served as the 46th Governor of Texas and is one of only two other being John Quincy Adams—to be the son of a former president. His second son, Jeb Bush, served as the 43rd Governor of Florida, George Herbert Walker Bush was born at 173 Adams Street in Milton, Massachusetts, on June 12,1924, to Prescott Sheldon Bush and Dorothy Bush. The Bush family moved from Milton to Greenwich, Connecticut, shortly after his birth, growing up, his nickname was Poppy. Bush began his education at the Greenwich Country Day School in Greenwich. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Bush decided to join the US, Navy, so after graduating from Phillips Academy in 1942, he became a naval aviator at the age of 18. He was assigned to Torpedo Squadron as the officer in September 1943. The following year, his squadron was based on USS San Jacinto as a member of Air Group 51, during this time, the task force was victorious in one of the largest air battles of World War II, the Battle of the Philippine Sea. After Bushs promotion to Lieutenant on August 1,1944, San Jacinto commenced operations against the Japanese in the Bonin Islands, Bush piloted one of four Grumman TBM Avenger aircraft from VT-51 that attacked the Japanese installations on Chichijima

The U.S. and USSR conducted hundreds of nuclear tests, including the Desert Rock exercises at the Nevada Test Site, USA, pictured above during the Korean War to familiarize their soldiers with conducting operations and counter-measures around nuclear detonations, as the Korean War threatened to expand.

Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to paying subscribers via radio frequency (RF) …

A coaxial cable used to carry cable television onto subscribers' premises

The bottom product is a set-top box, an electronic device which cable subscribers use to connect the cable signal to their television set.

A cable television distribution box (left) in the basement of a building in Germany, with a splitter (right) which supplies the signal to separate cables which go to different rooms

Diagram of a modern hybrid fiber-coaxial cable television system. At the regional headend, the TV channels are sent multiplexed on a light beam which travels through optical fiber trunklines, which fan out from distribution hubs to optical nodes in local communities. Here the light signal from the fiber is translated to a radio frequency electrical signal, which is distributed through coaxial cable to individual subscriber homes.